After Sept. 30, that responsibility will be turned over to the state. The sequestration cuts implemented by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) earlier this year cut the housing authority’s administration costs down to 60 percent, explained Executive Director Fred Newman.

“The budgets have been constrained by HUD over the last few years. You could say that the sequestration cuts were the straw that broke the camel’s back. We can no longer support the program,” said Newman.

Currently there are 220 active Housing Choice vouchers in the authority’s coverage area; the majority in Winchester. Thirty-two of those vouchers are in, “allied towns,” where the authority, “offered the residents...the ability to come to the Winchester Housing Authority and request an application to be put on the waiting list,” explained Newman.

According to Newman there are 17, “allied towns.” The authority began extending their services to these towns in 2001 when HUD told them that if they didn’t use their vouchers they would lose them, and granted the WHA permission to include surrounding towns in their coverage areas.

The NWCCOG towns are included in the WHA’s “allied towns,” which is why Newman addressed the first selectmen at their meeting Thursday morning.

The residents who currently have vouchers are not the ones who will be impacted by the WHA turning their services over to the state, but rather, the people who are currently on the waiting list.

Per Fair Housing Regulations, the state operates their waiting list as a lottery. This differs from the way the WHA has done things - they had dated preferences and applicants worked their way up the list to top priority. With the state, there is no priority and the 140 people on the WHA’s waiting list will be put to the bottom of the state’s pile and picked by lottery.

“In reality it will be like there is no Section 8 voucher program because it will be like winning the lottery to get a voucher,” said Jocelyn Ayer of the NWCCOG.

Newman said that may not be true, but people’s chances will probably change.

“If it’s a lottery they could be picked out the very first day,” said Newman.

The impacted towns’ social services offices, the individuals and landlords involved with the program will be made aware of this change through a personal letter from the WHA in the coming weeks, said Newman. That letter will detail where people will now need to go and who they will need to speak to for Housing Choice services.

The first of two WHA employees who handled the Housing Choice vouchers was laid off last month. The second employee will be laid off at the end of September.

The thing to take away is that come the end of the month, people will no longer be able to come to Winsted for applications and interviews for the voucher program, explained Newman.

About the Author

Kate Hartman works as a writer for Connecticut Magazine and formerly covered the towns of Harwinton, Burlington, New Hartford, Barkhamsted and Canton for The Register Citizen. Reach the author at khartman@registercitizen.com
or follow Kate on Twitter: @CTMagKate.